Review #487: Damaged, Black Flag
#487: Damaged, Black Flag
We’ve finally reached the first hardcore punk band: Black Flag. I was raised on emo music, so Black Flag intimidated the crap out of me as a young teenager. Just look at that album cover of singer Henry Rollins punching his mirror image out, Apocalypse Now style.
By the time their debut was released, CA-based band Black Flag had gone through a number of lineup changes. Guitarist Greg Ginn, who also was the primary songwriter, had a hardcore work ethic that turned off many musicians. They had particular trouble finding a singer before landing on DC transplant Henry Rollins, a shirtless beefcake with self-confessed anger issues. The band had actually recorded their backing tracks without a lead singer, and then later overdubbed Rollins’ vocals in.
According to RS, label MCA refused to release Damaged, calling it “anti-parent.” So Gregg Ginn started his own record company, SST, and released it on their own. It’s notable that SST employee Joe Carducci stated that MCA’s “anti-parent” reasoning was to disguise the fact that MCA wanted to sever ties with the subsidiary that Black Flag was dealing with, which was apparently consistently losing them money. In any case, the debacle set off a long and irritating legal battle, which would hurt their ability to release music for years to come.
Black Flag is like the Ramones if they were socially conscious. Anthem “Rise Above” and “No More” are all about a refusal to bow to the pressures of society, in spite of how impossible it may seem, while “Spray Paint” testifies to the freeing power of punk rock. Then there are the anti-consumerist jams “TV Party” (which reportedly helped inspire the Beastie Boys’ “Fight For Your Right”) and “Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie” (NOT a man after midnight). See also the chorus of “Padded Cell,” which accuses us all of being MANIACS! And it wouldn’t be a punk album without an anti-police song, “Police Story.”
The songs that surprised me were the anti-drinking songs “Six Pack” and “Thirsty and Miserable.” Black Flag wasn’t a straight edge band (in fact, Gregg Ginn was rumored to develop a bit of a drug problem — more on that later) but in the early Eighties, rock bands were more likely to sing about how much partying rocked than to warn people of its dangers. Rollins himself has said that while he isn’t strictly sober, he almost never indulges — though interestingly enough, he’s a vocal advocate for legalized pot.
And for a mostly sober man, Rollins sounds like he’s possessed by some sort of devil. “Damaged I” veers into prog rock, with spooky instrumentals and Rollins howling like a diseased animal over it. My name’s Henry/ And you’re here with ME now, he screams. And it sounds like a threat. See also his scratchy, shrieky vocals on “What I See” and basically every other song on the record.
Something I never realized until this listen of Damaged was just how much of a prototype it was for emo bands. Hair metal and punk rock is famous for its machismo — meaning the whole “talking about your feelings” genre of song was mostly off the table. Well, Black Flag has a song called “Depression” on this record. And they approach the topic in a really beautiful, multi-faceted way. “Room 13” is from the perspective of a man in a mental hospital, who can’t accept his fate; “Damaged II” is the aftermath of a suicide attempt that has left the narrator feeling confused/ Don’t wanna be confused. And “Life of Pain” is a truly heartbreaking one about a girl who self-harms. Rollins tones down his anger on this one and shoots for empathy: I just can’t stand watching you/ Self destruct.
The unhappy ending of this story is that Black Flag had an acrimonious breakup in 1986 (though they reformed in the 2000s, albeit to significantly less success, and without Henry Rollins). It’s not clear why, but it might have something to do with the fact that Ginn is a “notorious dick.” Even more horrifyingly, he was accused of child abuse by his ex-wife in 2014. Another former singer Ron Reyes put out a statement corroborating the accusations. I couldn’t find what the outcome of the case was, but either way, it’s not a great look. Why aren’t there more Henry Rollins in the world and less Greg Ginns?
